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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



pie exposition of essential principles and 

 important facts, which shall give force and 

 definiteness to the ideas growing out of the 

 doctrine of equality of right to the use of 

 the land, make manifest their conformity 

 with historical experience and religious truth, 

 put them in such a relation that the rec- 

 ognition of common rights in land may 

 strengthen, not weaken, the recognition of 

 individual rights in the products of labor; 

 and supply answers to the arguments urged 

 upon the other side. Mr. Thackeray begins 

 his thesis with a history of land tenure in 

 England, divided into the pre-feudal, feudal, 

 and post-feudal periods, in which the subject 

 is treated with special reference to the rights 

 and interests of the community as distinct 

 from the individual interests involved. The 

 origin of the present system is traced to the 

 acts of 1656 and 1660, "which turned mili- 

 tary tenures into free and common socage." 

 Community rights were trampled upon or 

 ignored under these acts, the custom of 

 making settlements grew up and was recog- 

 nized, and lands before common were in- 

 closed without effective resistance till about 

 half a century ago, when laws were passed 

 restricting the right. The key to the future 

 of land tenure may be found in the exercise 

 of the right of eminent domain, which the 

 author regards as an assertion of the state's 

 ownership and its right to change tenants 

 on condition of the new tenant indemnifying 

 the old one for the damage he may suffer. 

 The right of the community to resume its 

 possession of the land being, as the author 

 believes, shown, a second part of the work 

 is occupied with the questions relating to 

 compensation. The rights of the community 

 may be reasserted and secured by requiring 

 those who occupy or cultivate the land to 

 pay to the community a full equivalent for 

 the special privileges which they thus enjoy 

 that is, through the appropriation of 

 ground-rents by taxation, and applying the 

 proceeds for the benefit of the whole com- 

 munity. A plan is outlined for effecting 

 the change with the least harshness; and 

 the beneficial effects anticipated from it 

 are enumerated. As to those who may be 

 supposed to be injured by the change re- 

 duced to landlords the conclusion is reached 

 that most landlords would lose nothing with- 

 out receiving advantages nearly if not fully 



compensating them ; while the others, if not 

 relatively as great gainers as other classes of 

 the community, would not be absolute losers. 

 The landlords' claims for compensation are 

 examined and found not good, either in law 

 or equity in fact, the claim of the commu- 

 nity against them is assumed to be the bet- 

 ter one ; and, finally, they are invited man- 

 fully to accept the situation, and themselves 

 lead in recognizing the justice of the new 

 dispensation. 



Studies in Pedagogy. By Thomas J. Mor- 

 gan. Boston : Silver, Burdett & Co. 

 Pp. 355. Price, $1.15. 



The author, Principal of the Rhode Island 

 State Normal School, and before that of 

 normal schools at Potsdam, N. Y., and Peru, 

 Neb., has embodied in this volume the fruits 

 of many years of observation, reading, think- 

 ing, and experience in the exercise of his 

 profession, and makes in offering them " an 

 earnest effort to contribute toward the pro- 

 motion of higher ideals of education and bet- 

 ter methods of teaching." His view of edu- 

 cation in the general sense is a broad one, 

 and embraces all that marks the difference 

 between what a child is by nature at birth 

 and that which he becomes by growth, 

 training, and experience. In this sense, na- 

 ture is embraced as one of the greatest 

 forces of education. In the narrower sense, 

 to the consideration of which this book is 

 chiefly devoted, education is restricted to the 

 effect produced upon the young mind by 

 those who seek purposely to influence it, or 

 the direct influence of teachers and schools. 

 Its most important factor is training, which 

 here signifies such a control exercised by the 

 teacher over the pupil as will lead him so to 

 use his faculties as to secure their completest 

 development ; and which has for its imme- 

 diate end the evolution of power. These 

 faculties may be grouped under the heads of 

 acquiring, understanding, reproducing, using, 

 and expressing knowledge, each of which, 

 again, includes its own several topics and 

 means. More nearly than any other work 

 of the teacher it meets the ideal of educa- 

 tion ; it is an essential preliminary to a suc- 

 cessful work of instruction ; and is the pro- 

 cess that best prepares the student for the 

 active duties of life. The special applica- 

 tions of training discussed are those to the 



